Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Technologies and Commercialization

Call for Papers

Papers are being requested for this special issue. This is considered to be a very timely subject given the current expansion of nuclear energy and the lack of broadly accepted long-term spent fuel management solutions. The United States and several other countries are spending tens of millions of dollars each year on nuclear fuel reprocessing research, but there must be a connection to the needs of the existing nuclear power industry. Research at the US national level currently targets development of a fully sustainable nuclear power infrastructure, that maximizes resource utilization and power production, while managing wastes effectively and minimizing the risk of proliferation. The utilities desire a process for managing the actinides in their used fuel stockpiles that does not impact their reactor operations. Given the existing infrastructure, it is unquestionably more economical today to mine and enrich natural uranium for reactor fuel. However, will significant expansion of nuclear power strain resources sufficiently to swing the pendulum toward reprocessing? Will the externalities associated with waste disposal soon have an impact on the cost of newly mined fuel and provide economic benefit to industry using reprocessed fuel? Can we manage the proliferation and world security risks associated with nuclear fuel reprocessing to reap the benefits of better resource utilization and long-term waste management? These are just some of the topics that we would like to be addressed in this special issue. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

Cost analysis of specific nuclear fuel reprocessing schemes

Safeguardability of reprocessing facilities

Issues relevant to the scalability of nuclear fuel reprocessing technology